semax vs cerebrolysin

semax (B-tier) vs cerebrolysin (D-tier). mechanism, trials, evidence boundaries, dosing literature. side-by-side reference.

semax · tier B

russian nootropic. approved there, not here. for focus, stroke recovery, and cognitive decline. real mechanism, thin US trials.

Russian nootropic. approved there since the 1990s. BDNF upregulation within 30 minutes of an intranasal dose, effect persists 24+ hours.

Russia '82 stroke registry · half-life minutes in plasma; effects persist for hours due to CNS penetration and BDNF induction cascade · focus

cerebrolysin · tier D

a liquid made from pig brain, dripped into a vein in hospital after a stroke or in dementia. thousands of randomised patients have been given it. every dose in every trial is measured in millilitres, because the ampoule holds a mixture and there is no single molecule to weigh, and the only published identity test is a fingerprint match against a reference sample.

doctors drip this pig-brain liquid into a vein to try to keep damaged brain cells alive after a stroke or a head injury, and to hold memory and thinking together in dementia. it does half of that. the scores taken in the first two weeks improve, and the three-month score that decides whether a stroke patient gets their independence back sits flat, with CASTA putting day-90 modified Rankin 0 to 2 at 199 of 529 against 208 of 541 on placebo. two cochrane reviews and three independent syntheses read the whole literature and rate every estimate low or very low.

1,070 CASTA · primary missed · half-life not characterised; no human pharmacokinetic study was located in this sweep · focus

at a glance

• semax: tier B · Russia '82 stroke registry
• cerebrolysin: tier D · 1,070 CASTA · primary missed

reptides grades the research record and cites the literature behind every call. research reference only; not medical advice.